The cave gave them answers, but it didn't give Hero peace. All the way back to the hideout, his mind couldn't escape the words the gang member said.
"We didn't kill your father… someone else was already there."
Hero wanted to believe it wasn't true, but the more he tried to forget, the more the words echoed in his head.
If the gang didn't kill his father… then someone else did.
Someone who arrived first.
Someone who took the map before the gang even reached my father .
When they got back to the hideout, they were exhausted. Jade lay down and slept almost immediately. Hero closed his eyes but couldn't sleep. He watched Jade quietly.
Why did Jade always act serious when the map was mentioned?
Why did he look like he was hiding something?
Why did it feel like Jade knew more than he admitted?
Hero didn't want to doubt him. Jade saved his life many times. Jade helped him when no one else did. Jade was his father's friend.
But trust was getting harder.
Eventually, Hero fell asleep — but he didn't stay asleep for long.
He woke up to the sound of soft footsteps walking across the hideout floor.
Someone was leaving.
Hero slowly sat up. He recognized the rhythm of the steps.
Jade.
Hero pretended to lie back down until the door closed. Then he quietly put on his jacket and slipped outside.
He followed the footsteps from far behind. Many times, Jade stopped to look around, and Hero had to hide behind trees, walls, or abandoned cars. His heart raced every time Jade turned, but Jade never saw him.
Jade reached a remote and hidden area ,a place covered by trees and darkness. In the middle stood an old warehouse, almost invisible from the road.
Jade checked his surroundings, then plan enter the warehouse.
Hero stood still.
He wanted answers, but something inside him was afraid of the truth. He wasn't ready to know what was behind that door.
So he turned back and returned to the hideout, walking slowly and thinking too hard.
Nothing made sense.
The gang didn't kill his father.
Someone else took the map.
And now Jade was secretly going somewhere every night.
The next morning, Hero acted normal.
While preparing breakfast, he asked casually, "So… where did you go last night?"
Jade smiled a little. "To the gang's hideout. I wanted to watch their movements."
Hero nodded, but inside him something broke.
He knew Jade wasn't at the gang hideout. He saw the truth with his own eyes — Jade was at the remote warehouse.
Jade's lie only made the suspicion worse.
Hero stayed silent. But he decided something quietly in his heart:
From now on, he would watch Jade.
He would no longer blindly believe.
That afternoon, Hero stood up and picked up the empty grocery bag.
"I'll buy supplies," he said.
"Alright," Jade replied without looking up.
Hero walked out of the hideout — but he didn't go to the store.
He headed straight toward the remote place he saw last night.
When he reached the warehouse, it looked even more suspicious in daylight. The walls were old, but there were fresh footprints on the ground. Someone had been here recently. Hero pushed the rusty door just enough to slip inside.
The place was full of clues ,old papers, boxes, pictures of caves, symbols, cave drawings, and notes with dates. Someone had been researching the treasure for a long time.
Then Hero froze.
On a table was half of a map.
It was brown, old, and covered with markings and maybe the same Mao that his father discovered before he died. It looked like it had been ripped apart, leaving only half.
Hero picked it up with shaking hands.
"This is it…" he whispered. "This is the map my father died for."
He remembered the gang member's words again.
"We didn't kill your father. Someone else took something and ran."
Half of the map was here.
That meant the other half was somewhere else.
Someone had stolen the map first.
Someone who knew his father.
A terrifying thought entered Hero's mind.
What if that person was Jade?
Before he could think further ,there was a noise outside the warehouse.
Rustling.
Footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Hero looked around quickly. The door was too far. Then he saw a hole in the roof — a broken sheet of metal big enough to escape. He climbed onto a shelf, pushed the loose roof piece aside and pulled himself up. He lay flat, barely breathing.
The footsteps entered the warehouse.
Hero couldn't see the person from the roof, but he felt it , whoever came in was searching. Maybe for the map. Maybe for him.
He crawled quietly across the roof and dropped down from the back of the building. Then he ran as fast as he could through the trees, lungs burning, heart breaking.
He didn't run because of fear.
He ran because something inside him hurt more than any bullet.
What if Jade brought the map here?
What if Jade had the map first?
What if Jade was the one who took it from his father?
What if Jade… was the one who killed him?
The idea felt impossible ,but all the signs were pointing in one direction.
When Hero finally reached the road again, he stopped and stared at the sky, holding the half map tightly.
He whispered to himself:
"If Jade is the one behind all this… if he betrayed my father… I won't forgive him."
And for the first time, Hero was no longer afraid of the truth.
He was ready to face it no matter how painful it might be.